Cost to employ worker nearly double net salary

EU tax burden declines, but Italy bucks trend

(ANSA) - Rome, March 11 - The cost of employing the average
Italian worker amounts to nearly twice the employee's take-home
pay, the national statistics agency told a Senate hearing
Tuesday.
Workers in 2012 received an average of 16,153 euros a year,
49.1% less than total labor costs of 31,719 euros, Istat said.

The agency added that the tax burden across the European
Union has declined by 0.5% since 2000, while in Italy it has
grown by nearly 3%.
Meanwhile family spending power dropped 4.7% in 2012, in
the middle of Italy's worst postwar recession, which began to
end the second half of last year.
Istat called the dip one of "exceptional magnitude" and
blamed rising taxes for "significantly contributing to a sharp
decline in the income".
Notably disposable income was down 2% in 2012, Istat said.

The data comes on the eve of Premier Matteo Renzi's
roll-out of a package of tax cuts and initiatives to boost
growth and employment nationwide.